Operation: Home Sweet Home
by GrandOldPenguin
Summary: Marlene is devastated when she learns that she is going to be transferred to another zoo. But Skipper promised her months before that she would never be taken from the Central Park Zoo, and he isn't about to fail a friend—or his duty.
1. Prologue: The Promise

**Note: **Although this story focuses around the threat of Marlene being transferred, the idea for this fanfic was not inspired by the "Zoo Tube" episode, in which the zoo animals fought to keep the Central Park Zoo from closing in order to not be transferred to various other zoos. In fact, I began writing this long before the episode ever aired. I did, however, later decide to add a brief mention of this incident to tie it in with the series.

* * *

Four months earlier, Skipper, then alone on top of the penguin habitat's platform, was taking a break from smiling and waving at zoo visitors when there was a lull in the crowd. It was at that time when Marlene came by unexpectedly and approached him with a request.

"_Skipper, I need you to promise me something," she said as she walked up to him._

"_What do you need?" Skipper asked._

"_Most of my life I spent in California, and I had some great times there, but I believe I've finally found my place here," she said. "I really like it here. The best friends I've ever had are here. I've had a lot of fun adventures here. And you, Skipper, are here."_

"_So, what do you need me to promise you?" Skipper wondered._

"_Assure me that I'll never be transferred away from here," Marlene stated._

"_Done," Skipper replied._

"_Thanks," Marlene said. "It really means a lot to me. Now I'll leave you to carry on with whatever it was that you were doing."_

_And with that, Marlene waved goodbye and left._

Now Skipper was a good friend with Marlene, and he truly meant it when he said that he would prevent her from being transferred. But he never thought that Marlene would ever be in danger of being taken away.

He thought wrong.


	2. Unthinkable

"Wait until you see this one, guys," Kowalski said as he pushed yet another videotape into the VCR. "It was one of my favorite episodes in my younger years."

"Kowalski, how many episodes of 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' do you plan to show us this morning?" Skipper then asked his first lieutenant. "He seems like a nice guy, I'll give you that, but there are probably other things that we should be doing this morning."

"Like what, Skipper?" Private inquired.

"I'm not sure, Private," Skipper replied. "Some days you find the missions, some days the missions find you."

How right he was.

"Oh, no! This can't be happening to me again," Marlene suddenly burst into the HQ, crying, and declared. "You guys have got to help me. Skipper, I need you. Kowalski, Rico, Private, please help me!"

Skipper turned to see Marlene by the doorway, and he could tell immediately that something major and awful had just happened to her. He wasn't sure what it was that had gotten her so upset, but before he could find out what was wrong, he knew he had to quickly calm her down.

"Marlene, hand me your paw," Skipper requested as he stood up and walked over to her.

Marlene then put her right paw forward, which Skipper took and held between his flippers. Almost instantly Marlene stopped crying; he had a remarkable calming effect on her. In part, it was because he touched her; in part, it was just Marlene knowing that Skipper cared.

"Thanks," Marlene smiled as she took her paw back.

"Don't mention it," Skipper replied as he motioned for the others to come over. "Now take a deep breath and tell us what got you so shaken up."

"Oh, just one of my worst fears come true," Marlene stated. "I'm going to be uprooted from this place I've begun to call home and transferred to another zoo."

Kowalski, Rico, and Private gasped as they waddled over, but Skipper just shook his head.

"Unacceptable," he declared. "If you don't want to leave this place, you never have to. No humans will ever ship any of us out of here – you certainly remember how we showed them when they tried closing the zoo, don't you?"

"Yes, but this time it's different," Marlene responded. "This time they're just targeting me. If the zoo had closed, I would have been sad, but I probably would have ended up someplace new with at least a few of you guys; this time, however, I'll be all alone."

"Well, you won't be if I have anything to say about it," Skipper declared. "Though I had thought and had hoped that you would never be threatened like this, I promised you that I would prevent you from being taken away, and the Skipper always keeps his word."

Marlene then began to smile a faint smile, but she stopped when she noticed that Kowalski seemed to have a question.

"What's your intel, Marlene?" Kowalski asked. "How do you know that you're being transferred?"

Marlene then began to tear up a little again, but she still managed to provide an answer for the team's options man.

"Alice was outside of my habitat this morning with two men who had clipboards," she responded. "She pointed at me, she used the word 'otter,' and she insisted that she could have everything arranged to have me shipped out on Thursday. So barring intervention by you guys or a miracle, I'll soon be shipped out to–"

"Well, if it's the Bronx Zoo, we could get you out of there easy," Private spoke up.

"I'm afraid it's not so close by, Private," Marlene said sadly. "They want to put me in St. Louis."

"That's 961.42 miles, I'm afraid," Kowalski commented.

"That may be true, Kowalski, but Marlene's not going anywhere," Skipper declared. "If we were able to successfully send an obnoxious walrus spy packing, we can certainly devise a way to keep an otter."

"Uh-huh!" Rico agreed.

Kowalski and Private nodded, also agreeing to be a part of the mission. Skipper then turned to Marlene.

"Penguins can do anything, Marlene," he said. "Go on back to your habitat and try to relax while we strategize on the best way to pull this off. We'll let you know later what the plan is."

"OK," she replied as she began heading for the door.

But as the penguins then began to walk in the opposite direction, Skipper thought that he heard Marlene begin to cry just a little bit again. He then thought it might be best to have a private word with her to reassure her that everything would be OK.

"Marlene, before you leave, come with me for just a second," Skipper said as he turned around and motioned for her to follow him behind a shelf.

Marlene followed, and as soon as she got next to him, Skipper lifted up a flipper and wiped the tears off Marlene's face.

"There's no need for that," he said as he looked into her eyes. "I'm going to need you to be strong so we can all work this out, OK?"

Marlene nodded.

"All right," Skipper whispered as he held his flippers open, "now give me a hug."

Marlene smiled and felt comforted as she reached out and complied.

"You know, a lot of people think that the zookeepers and administrators run this place, but they don't," Skipper stated as he continued to hold onto her. "I do, and I will not allow you to be taken away. Marlene, you are both my friend and my mission – failing either one is not an option."

"Knowing you the way I do," Marlene said, "I wouldn't expect it to be."

Moments later, Marlene let go of Skipper and exited the penguin habitat. Skipper then assembled his men around the table to devise a plan of action. It was actions that spoke louder than words, after all, and the time to act was now.


	3. Of Thursday and the Times

"All right, men, none of us want to see Marlene shipped out of here, so we need to come up with the right plan to block it," Skipper declared as he took his seat at the table with the other penguins. "I want to hear every possible option."

Rico grinned at the thought of _every_ possible option, and promptly regurgitated a stick of dynamite.

"Kaboom! Kaboom!" he mumbled as he pulled the stick from his mouth. "Ha, ha, ha!"

Skipper shook his head.

"I like your attitude, Rico," he said, "but what would we blow up, Marlene's habitat? We kind of need that."

As Rico then began to re-swallow his dynamite, a thought popped into Kowalski's head.

"What's so special about Thursday?" he wondered.

"What do you mean, Kowalski?" Skipper inquired.

"I mean, when Marlene was talking to us, she said that she overheard Alice tell the two men she was with that she could have everything arranged to ship Marlene out on Thursday," he responded. "Something tells me that those men needed to be guaranteed of this."

"That 'something' is your gut, Kowalski," Skipper replied as he smiled.

"But why?" Private asked.

"The gut can't always tell you _why_, Private," Skipper replied. "But recon usually can."

"You really think this is worth looking into?" Kowalski asked.

"Yeah, I do," Skipper replied. "Who knows what kind of crooked backroom deal that zookeeper and those men might have cooked up together."

Skipper then glanced up at the clock.

"Looks like Alice is still on her break," he said. "Let's roll on out of here and see if we can uncover some answers down at her office."

And with that, the four set off for Alice's office; sliding on their bellies the whole way, they reached it in no time, and were pleased to find the door unlocked.

"Search every drawer, open every filing cabinet," Skipper ordered as they all entered. "Look everywhere, men; leave no stone unturned."

As the team began to look for something to tell them just why Thursday was the day that Marlene had to be shipped out on, Kowalski spotted something.

"Ah, Skipper," he said as he stood on top of Alice's desk, pointing at a rock she used as a paperweight, "I think this may be the stone you were referring to."

"What do you got there, Kowalski?" Skipper asked as he approached the desk.

Kowalski picked up the pieces of paper that were under the rock and skimmed them over before replying.

"It's a cover letter and an accepted purchase order from the St. Louis Zoo," he said. "Apparently they're paying the Central Park Zoo $14,000 for a female otter."

"Anything there about the Thursday mystery?" Private inquired.

"I was just getting to that," Kowalski replied. "It says that they want to purchase a female otter promptly, and if they cannot get ours by Thursday, they will rescind their offer and obtain an otter from some other zoo."

"Well, today is Monday, so that gives us three days to somehow block this abomination," Skipper declared. "This zoo just wouldn't be the same without Marlene."

"Wouldn't be the same?" Kowalski pondered as he rubbed his lower beak with a flipper. "Skipper! That's exactly it!"

"What's it?" Skipper wondered.

"Think about it, Skipper, the zoo really wouldn't be the same without Marlene," Kowalski replied. "Since she's the only otter here, the humans have come to expect to see her whenever they visit the zoo. I bet if they knew that there was a plan to ship our only otter away, they would revolt and protest in front of the zoo armed with pitchforks."

"Pitchforks?" Skipper questioned puzzledly.

"Well, maybe they wouldn't get _that_ up in arms," Kowalski conceded, "but it would probably create a public relations nightmare for the zoo."

"You really want to get the humans involved?" Skipper questioned. "Is that wise?"

"If we do it the right way it is," Kowalski replied. "But, unfortunately, I do not know what that way is."

After momentary silence, Private raised a flipper and jumped up with an idea.

"Oh, how about we send a copy of the papers showing Marlene's scheduled transfer to _The New York Times_?" he suggested. "They'll spread the word all across the city."

Skipper shook his head.

"Private, do you really think that _The New York Times_ has time for an otter story?" Skipper questioned skeptically. "Aren't they busy enough already giving premium advertising rates to organizations that they agree with?"

"What?" Private asked, confused.

"Oh, never mind," Skipper shrugged, then tapping a flipper on Private's shoulder. "All right, young Private, I guess it is at least worth a shot."

Upon hearing his leader's comments, Kowalski waddled over to the copy machine in the corner of the room and made a copy of the papers showing that Marlene was to be transferred. Unlike the last time he had tried using a copy machine, he did not inadvertently copy his tailfeather region in the process.

"Here you are, sir," Kowalski said once he completed the copies and handed them to Skipper.

"Thanks," Skipper said as he accepted them, then turning to Private. "Private, you and Rico go tell Marlene about 'Operation: Inform the Media' while I stay here with Kowalski to get these papers ready to go out in the mail."

Private nodded as he and Rico then began to leave Alice's office.

"Wait!" Skipper then called to them. "I almost forgot, but Rico, I'm going to need a stamp."

Rico then immediately hacked-up and handed his leader a postage stamp.

"It's a good thing this stamp is the peel-and-stick type," Skipper chuckled as he took it from Rico, "because it would probably be ruined if it was the kind you have to lick."

As Rico and Private then left Alice's office to tell Marlene of the plan to expose her transfer in the pages of _The New York Times_, Kowalski handed Skipper an envelope that he had addressed to the paper's news bureau.

"Kowalski, why did you write your real name and the zoo's address in the return address space on this envelope?" Skipper questioned as he looked it over.

"Well, why not?" Kowalski wondered as he shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, it's not like any human will ever know that there's really a penguin named 'Kowalski A. Kowalski' at the Central Park Zoo."

"I guess," Skipper somewhat hesitantly agreed as he put the papers inside the envelope, sealed it, and affixed the postage. "So, is there even a mailbox around here that a penguin can actually reach?"

"Not exactly," Kowalski replied as he motioned for Skipper to follow him out of Alice's office, "but I'll lift you up so that you can drop the envelope in."

Skipper then followed Kowalski down to the nearest mailbox. Upon arrival, Kowalski lifted Skipper by the feet so that he could place the envelope inside.

"In the mailbox today," Skipper commented as he released the envelope, "on Page 1 tomorrow."

And with that, the envelope was off to _The New York Times_. And Skipper just couldn't wait to read the next morning's edition.


	4. Whatever It Takes

The next morning, before the zoo opened for business, Skipper, the other penguins, and Marlene gathered at Alice's office to look at the newest edition of _The New York Times_, which Alice always had a copy of on top of her desk. Since both the Central Park Zoo and the New York Times Building were located in Manhattan, Skipper figured that the envelope he and Kowalski had mailed out the morning before would have reached the newspaper that same day, thus in time for its contents to be published in that morning's edition.

"Let's see what we have here," Skipper said as he snatched Alice's newspaper off her desk and began looking at it. "Well, Marlene, you didn't make the front page, but let's have a look inside."

Skipper then opened up the paper and scanned the headlines.

"Come on, come on," he said, frustratingly, as he flipped through the pages. "It has to be in here somewhere."

But when Skipper reached the last page, he knew that it wasn't.

"And they wonder why the newspaper is a dying medium," Skipper uttered as it became apparent that _The New York Times_ had not run with the Marlene transfer story.

"Maybe it will make tomorrow's edition, Skipper," Marlene optimistically commented. "The envelope probably didn't have enough time to travel to–"

But she was cut-off when Private noticed something peculiar.

"Skipper, look!" Private declared as he pulled the envelope that was supposed to go to _The New York Times_ out of Alice's trash can. "It says that it has been returned to the sender for insufficient postage."

"_Insufficient postage?_" Skipper questioned as he grabbed the envelope from Private and noticed the message. "Kowalski! What's a stamp go for these days?!"

"Forty-four cents," Kowalski replied.

"Fish on a stick!" Skipper exclaimed. "We used a 43-cent one!"

"Sorry," Rico then mumbled as he waddled over. "No one told me that the rates went up again."

"It's not your fault, Rico," Skipper then stated. "But the next time you swallow a bunch of stamps, make sure they're the forever kind, OK, buddy?"

Rico nodded in agreement as Skipper turned to Marlene.

"Well, we've already lost a day thinking that we could get your story in the paper, so we can't afford to waste another one trying this operation again," he said. "So I'm now declaring that Operation: Chaos be put into effect."

"Operation: Chaos?" Kowalski wondered. "I think I've heard something about that one on the radio."

"No, not that Operation: Chaos," Skipper stated. "I'm talking about recruiting the lemurs to go totally crazy inside their habitat to serve as a distraction."

"And while the lemurs distract the zoo staff, what do we do?" Private inquired.

"Oh," Skipper stuttered, "I haven't thought about the rest of it yet."

"How about an entirely different approach, Skipper?" Kowalski suggested.

"Such as?" Skipper asked.

"Well, even though trying to get Marlene's story out in the newspaper failed, there's still one way to get her image out to the public," Kowalski stated. "We can turn her into the next big Internet star."

Upon hearing Kowalski's suggestion, Marlene motioned for Skipper to come over to her.

"You remember that scandal I told you about, Skipper?" she then whispered into his ear. "I can't do the Internet."

"Oh, come on, that was hardly a scandal," Skipper replied as he raised his right flipper. "And besides, in my capacity as Penguin Leader of the Central Park Zoo, I hereby grant you a full, free, and absolute pardon."

Marlene smiled.

"Thanks," she said, "but maybe there is another way for right now."

"Ah, you just don't want to go back on the Internet unless there's a trophy on the line," Skipper joked as he waddled away.

"I heard that," Marlene responded, though she knew it was just a joke.

Skipper then turned to face his men and Marlene.

"OK, I've thought of something," he announced to everyone. "It's Internet-based, but it doesn't require Marlene to be so directly involved."

"Why not, Skipper?" Private asked.

"That's private, Private, between me and Marlene," Skipper replied. "But anyway, what we do is pose as humans and send several emails to zoo administrators and staff saying how much we like the zoo's otter. They'll then think that Marlene is so popular that they'd be a bunch of dumb mammals – I mean, out of their mind – to send Marlene away."

"Nice save, Skipper," Marlene smirked in regard to Skipper's little mammal slip-up. "But it is a good plan."

Skipper then turned to Kowalski.

"Kowalski, go round-up the mammal team," he said. "Bring me the chimps and the lemurs."

"I'm on it," Kowalski replied as he left the office.

About 10 minutes later, Kowalski returned after fetching the chimps and lemurs.

"OK, silly penguins, what is it that you want with me and my subjects?" Julien asked upon entering the room.

"You've all been drafted," Skipper replied. "We need all of you to take part in a covert operation, a mission so classified that it can never leave this room."

Skipper then explained the entire situation to the chimps and lemurs; they were all shocked to learn of Marlene's transfer and were all onboard with the plan to fight it.

Phil then had a question, which he asked through Mason using sign language.

"Phil asks if he will have to type out all of your emails," Mason reported.

"Well, I'm not sure about the lemurs, but my men and I have gotten a lot better with the language lately," Skipper answered. "We can probably handle the typing ourselves."

"Me, too," Marlene said.

"Me three," Julien stated. "I mean, we three lemurs can probably wing it, too."

"Very well," Mason said as he and Phil walked over to the computer and turned it on. "So, which one of you has the email account?"

"Say what?" Julien asked.

"You need to have some sort of email account in order to send and receive email," Mason replied. "Phil and I both have one; do I take it that we're the only ones?"

Everyone else in the room nodded.

"Fortunately, this matter is resolvable," Mason then said. "Phil and I can create ones for all of you."

Phil and Mason then accessed the Internet on the computer. They then spent the next few minutes creating eight different email accounts for the other animals. When they were done, everyone crowded around the computer.

"Eh, my email address doesn't seem royal enough," Julien complained. "I don't like it."

"Ring-tail, this isn't about you, it's about Marlene," Skipper declared. "You're only going to use that email address once, so live with it."

"Well, I suppose," Julien conceded. "But you monkeys will have to create a better one for me later."

"The 'monkeys' can do nothing for you," Mason stated as he rolled his eyes. "We are chimpanzees, you see. But I suppose we could still arrange a new email address for you later."

Skipper then clapped his flippers together to get everyone's attention.

"Folks, let's not get too far off the subject," he stated. "Let's get started on these emails; I want all of them to be as cute and cuddly as possible. I'll go first."

Everyone then took their turn at the computer to type and send their pro-otter emails, starting with Skipper. All 10 were different, and often reflected their own personalities. Each sent out the following remarks by email:

**SKIPPER: **Every time I see your otter, I can't help but smile. She's a mammal, but I love her anyway.

**KOWALSKI: **The otter is my favorite member of the Mustelidae family. Each time I visit the Central Park Zoo, stopping by the otter exhibit is the first thing on my clipboard. I enjoy studying her.

**RICO: **If you know anyone who doesn't like otters, send them my way.

**PRIVATE: **Three cheers for the otter!

**JULIEN: **There's always an interesting vibe to be had around the otter habitat. Though that ring-tailed lemur has got it going on, too!

**MAURICE: **I have a really tough job, so it's nice to be able to drop by the otter habitat and relax for a while.

**MORT: **I like chipmunks! _– Oh, she's an otter? – _I like otters!

**MASON: **I do say, the otter exhibit at the Central Park Zoo is most exquisite. It's quite a terrific place to have a spot of tea.

**PHIL: **The otter leaves me speechless. Well, so does everything else, but still.

**MARLENE: **I don't know why, but I feel a real connection to the Central Park Zoo's otter. It's almost as if she was a part of me.

Marlene was the last to send out an email, and just as she clicked on the "send" button, a noise was heard coming from the door that led into the office. Thinking quickly, Skipper pulled out the computer's electrical cord in order to conceal the secret email operation from the humans that were beginning to enter the office while the other animals fled for cover. But this delay didn't allow Skipper enough time to escape himself before Alice and a male zookeeper walked in, so he was forced to hide underneath a table in the corner of the room and wait it out.

"Alice, did you unplug this?" the male zookeeper asked as he noticed that the computer in the room was unplugged. "This computer is always plugged in."

"I didn't do it," Alice replied as the other zookeeper plugged the computer back in. "I'm sure of it."

"All right," he said as he sat down in front of the computer and turned it on. "I guess I might as well check my email since I'm here anyway."

A few minutes later, he was logged-on to the zoo's server and accessed the inbox for emails being sent to him at the zoo. In it were the 10 emails that the group had just sent out, which were also sent to Alice and other zoo employees.

"Ten emails," he commented out loud. "I think that's a new record for me in one day."

"Congratulations," Alice replied sarcastically.

The male zookeeper then spent the next few moments reading the emails to himself. When he completed the last one, he paused for a moment before speaking to Alice.

"Everyone loves the otter," he chuckled. "I swear all 10 of these emails were about our otter exhibit. It's probably a shame that we're shipping her out."

A puzzled and skeptical look then displayed across Alice's face.

"Shove over," she said as she forced her way in front of the computer, pushing the other zookeeper aside. "Let me have a look at those."

Alice then skimmed through the 10 emails quickly. When she reached the last, she turned to the male zookeeper and rolled her eyes and head.

"This is just some weirdo's attempt at a joke," she declared as if she knew everything. "All the email addresses are different, but all the emails were sent out within minutes of each other. It's just one person with no life who apparently has a thing for otters, that's all it is."

Hearing this while still hidden across the room, Skipper frowned as he realized that this second attempt to keep Marlene in New York was now to be classified as a failure.

About 10 minutes later, Alice and her coworker left the office, which allowed Skipper to come out of hiding. He then made his way over to the HQ, where he correctly assumed that everyone had gone after they had fled the office.

"I'm afraid that I have some bad news," he announced as he entered. "Our email campaign has failed; Alice saw the emails and dismissed them as the work of just one crazy person with an otter obsession."

Marlene sighed.

"Well, it was still a good try, Skipper," she said.

Skipper then cleared his throat.

"Since it is now Tuesday morning, we have less than two full days left before the humans want to take Marlene away," he reminded everyone. "Somebody, and I don't care who, call out a possible option right now."

"Time travel is still in development," Kowalski responded. "So I guess that's out for right now. Sorry."

"I will write a royal decree that forbids anyone to take Marlene away and post it on my plastic volcano," Julien offered. "You like?"

"Operation: Reverse Rhonda," Private suggested.

"Ooh, I like the sound of that one, Private," Skipper stated. "But just what is it?"

"Well, we do the opposite of what we did when we got rid of Rhonda the walrus for Marlene," Private replied. "Instead of hacking into a computer system to arrange an animal transfer, we hack into the same computer system to delete an animal transfer."

"That's so simple it just might work," Skipper stated. "Good work, soldier."

But just when he thought that Private's idea would work, Skipper remembered how close the humans had just come at walking in on their previous email operation.

"Wait," he said, "how long might this take? What if Alice or another zoo employee finds us on the computer like they almost did earlier?"

"Well, why don't you just hack into the computer system from right here?" Maurice suggested.

"No can do, lemur," Skipper replied. "We don't have a computer here at the HQ."

"But there are plenty right outside," Marlene spoke up.

"Where?" Skipper asked.

"The humans have them," Marlene replied. "Many of them carry around cell phones that can access the Internet."

Skipper smiled.

"You certainly are a smart one, Marlene," he said, turning then to Rico. "Rico, secure us a cell phone from some unsuspecting visitor."

Rico then saluted Skipper as he waddled his way out of the HQ. He returned no more than four minutes later with a cell phone that had Internet capabilities, which he handed to Skipper.

"Hey, simians," Skipper called as he tossed the phone to Phil and Mason, "you and your opposable thumbs have the first go."

Mason then used the pull-out keyboard on the phone to establish a connection to the same online system that had been used many months earlier to arrange Rhonda's departure. But this time he found an obstacle that hadn't been there before.

"The password field is much more secure than the last time," he said as he looked at the screen. "I'm not sure that I can gain access."

"Kowalski: Analysis," Skipper ordered.

Mason then handed Kowalski the phone so he could have a look.

"The chimp's right," Kowalski reported after typing a few characters into the password field. "There could be millions of different possibilities for the correct password. And with just one phone, it could take–"

"Hold on, Kowalski," Skipper then broke-in. "There's not just one phone; Marlene said that many zoo visitors carry them. What we need is more phones."

Skipper then looked around the room.

"Rico, get me nine more phones," Skipper declared. "We'll all try cracking the codes at the same time; odds are one of us will make some sort of progress."

Rico then left the HQ yet again to obtain nine more Internet-capable cell phones. It took him 30 minutes this time to secure them all from unsuspecting guests, but secure them he did.

While Rico was out obtaining the cell phones, 10 chairs had been set-up inside the HQ next to each other for everyone to sit on as they worked on cracking the codes. When Rico returned, Skipper was sitting in the leftmost chair with Marlene to his right.

"Thank you," Skipper said as Rico handed him a cell phone and then began to pass them out to everyone else. "All right, everyone, when you get your phone, access the log-on page and get crackin'."

"Access denied," Julien said as he read what appeared on his screen after trying his first code. "So, how many tries do we make before we give up?"

Skipper's face twitched a little as he heard Julien's question.

"This takes as long as it takes; we go until we succeed," Skipper declared as he stood up.

He then placed a flipper under one of Marlene's arms and lifted her onto her feet to face the others.

"If anyone ever feels like quitting, just remember that this is who you're fighting for," Skipper spoke sincerely. "She's been there for all of us at one time or another; now's the time to show her that we care."

Skipper then let go of Marlene, and they both sat down at exactly 10:30 a.m. and began trying to crack the code alongside everyone else. Everyone was so energized by Skipper's remarks that they all began to lose track of time as the next few hours of code-cracking attempts passed by. That was until a familiar sound alerted the penguins to what time it was.

"I don't care, Alice," Skipper stated out loud as he heard the zookeeper drop off the penguins' afternoon fish. "I'll eat only when the battle is won."

The other penguins were somewhat hungry, but they, too, recognized that there were more pressing matters at hand than filling their bellies. Everyone continued to push on for a good long while until Mason broke the focus and the silence.

"Skipper, what if the humans realize that there are 10 animals made up of six different species that are nowhere to be seen in their habitats today?" he wondered.

"I don't do hypotheticals, simian," Skipper replied. "Let them think whatever they want to."

The hours continued to pass with no success; the daylight began to wane. Before anyone knew it, the zoo was closed; by the time they realized it, it was opening back up again.

"I still don't care, Alice," Skipper declared as she brought by the penguins' afternoon fish, a full 24 hours after she last had; she was a bit perplexed at why the fish she had delivered the day before had gone uneaten.

Hour after hour, code after code, nothing worked. But everyone still pressed on; it was at the brink of madness.

"Why is the world against Marlene?!" Skipper shouted as he pounded a flipper against the phone's keyboard. "Why?!"

The zoo closed again for the night. The evening came, followed by night. Eventually, after a 36-hour marathon, it had to come to an end.

When the clock reached 10:30 p.m. – now Wednesday night – Skipper threw his flippers up.

"That's it," he ordered. "Finish whatever code you were working on, then turn your phones off. I'm afraid it's time for Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Marlene turned to ask Skipper.

"The 'B' is for 'bed,' Marlene," Skipper replied. "I really hate giving up, but we've all been at it for 36 hours already – anymore and we'd probably soon collapse."

Skipper then placed a flipper on Marlene's shoulder; there was one more plan that he had in reserve.

"There is still is Operation: Eleventh Hour," Skipper stated. "And that will be put into effect tomorrow."

"How does it work?" Marlene inquired.

"It works because this whole nightmare will finally end tomorrow," Skipper declared. "Now things are going to get hairy around here, but luckily for us we won't be here to see it."

"So you _are_ giving Rico permission to use the dynamite?" Marlene figured.

"No," Skipper chuckled. "Tomorrow morning at O-dark-thirty, I'm going to take you–"

"Wait," Marlene broke-in, "what's 'O-dark-thirty'?"

"It's military jargon – it means really early in the morning before the sun comes up," Skipper answered.

"Oh," Marlene said. "Go on."

"Well, in the morning at – let's just say 4:30 – I'm going to come over and take you down into the sewer with me," Skipper continued. "This way you won't be in your habitat when the humans come for you. Now it's going to be a long, cold day down there, but once we kill the deadline victory is ours – and mainly yours."

"Cold?" Marlene wondered. "Couldn't we just hide out here at the HQ instead?"

"Negative," Skipper replied. "Tomorrow when you go missing, the zookeepers are going to tear this place apart looking for you; they're going to go over the whole zoo with a fine-toothed comb. Now this HQ is a well-hidden and fortified facility, but I can't risk that one in a million chance that they find you here, because then you'll be heading west."

"But they could still find it," Marlene said.

"I highly doubt that," Skipper declared, "but better they find it than you."

Marlene smiled.

"In that case," she said, "I guess I'll be bringing a scarf in the morning."

"Yeah," Skipper chuckled. "And I'll have Rico hack us up some earmuffs before I leave."

"So, what happens after we kill the deadline?" Marlene asked.

"Still a lot of waiting, I'm afraid," Skipper replied. "We'll be in constant contact with the boys at the HQ by radio, but we can't come back up until I get word that another otter has been brought to St. Louis. Realistically, it could be a day or two. But then you get to _mysteriously_ show up in your habitat again – it'll probably even make the news as a human interest story."

"So I might end up in _The New York Times_ after all?" Marlene wondered.

"Anything is possible," Skipper smiled as he patted Marlene on the back. "Now go get some sleep; I'll see you bright and early in the morning."

With that, Marlene left the HQ and headed back home. Skipper then thanked and dismissed the lemurs and chimps before assembling his team to tell them of the operation he had planned for the next morning with Marlene.

After he was finished explaining everything, Skipper pulled Rico aside. There was one more thing he needed done.

"Everything we've tried to do for Marlene has so far failed, so I can't take anymore chances; nothing can stop me from success this time," he said. "Now I do not expect a war to break out tomorrow, but we do need to be prepared in case one does."

"Prepared, how?" Rico asked.

"Regurgitate all the metal tools in your gut, melt them down, and forge munitions," Skipper ordered. "I need you to stay up and do this for me now so I can get some sleep for tomorrow; when you're done, you can sleep-in as long as you want to in the morning."

"Deal," Rico agreed as he then hacked-up a crowbar. "Allow me to get started."

And with that, Skipper smiled as he waddled over to his bunk and climbed up into it. He didn't want it to come to Operation: Eleventh Hour, but he knew that this time he had a plan that could not fail.


	5. A Far, Far Better Thing

At precisely 0345 in the morning, Skipper dove out of his bunk to shut off the alarm clock he had set for himself before its noise woke up the others. He had only 45 minutes to prepare before he met with Marlene to take her down into the sewer to hideout from the humans, namely the zoo staff that were tasked with preparing her to be transported to St. Louis.

"I'm gonna need the energy today," Skipper said to himself as he waddled over to a cabinet and removed four coffee mugs, holding two by the handles in each flipper. "I can't risk being tired on this vital mission."

He then made his way to the coffee maker and filled up the mugs, leaving only enough room in each one for a fish to be placed inside.

Upon finishing his coffees, Skipper gathered up a few supplies he and Marlene would need in the sewer: a flashlight, a two-way radio so he could maintain contact with the base, enough fish to last a couple of days, and two pairs of earmuffs that Rico had left out for them. All he placed into a black nylon bag and carried with him as he left the HQ under the cover of darkness.

Moments later, he arrived at Marlene's habitat. Although he probably would have done the same even if Marlene wasn't expecting him, Skipper then waddled into her habitat's cave without first thinking to knock.

"All right, Marlene, are you ready to show those humans what we can do?" he asked upon entering.

A moment went by, but he did not hear Marlene's cheery voice give him a reply.

"Marlene?" he called out as he turned his head to the left then right, finding her habitat empty. "Marlene? Marlene!"

He knew that she wouldn't have ventured into the sewer without him, so he quickly made his way back outside, hoping that he might find her sleeping on a rock. Perhaps he had just passed her by when he walked into her habitat. But after a minute of frantic searching, Skipper's heart sunk; he knew that Marlene was gone.

"Marlene, no!" Skipper shouted at the world. "Marlene!"

She couldn't hear him, but his shouts did catch the ear of someone else.

"Skipper!" Julien called out as he stood on top of his throne and waved his hands. "Come quickly!"

What exactly the lemur was doing up so early in the morning was not a concern of Skipper's at that moment. All that mattered was getting over to the ring-tail's kingdom to find out why he had been summoned.

"What is it?" Skipper asked as he entered the enclosure.

"Oh, it was awful – I saw everything from my throne," Julien replied. "First the veterinarian went into Marlene's habitat and shot a dart in her booty, then Alice went in with a wooden crate and put her in it. Then she helped this dude wearing cowboy boots lift the crate onto a cart and push it out of the zoo."

"So she's gone, isn't she, ring-tail?" Skipper said flatly.

"No, Skipper," Julien said as he pointed to his left, "look."

Skipper looked in the direction Julien pointed, and about 500 feet away sat parked a white box truck. He knew immediately that Marlene was inside.

"Thanks, ring-tail!" Skipper said as leapt the barrier of the lemur habitat and took off sliding on his belly for the truck. "I don't hate you!"

"Hmm, well, that's nice," Julien hummed to himself, a little confused, as he stretched his arms and then took a seat on his throne.

By the time Julien sat down, Skipper had reached the truck. By some act of the divine, the door on the back was unlocked, so Skipper lifted it up. A little bit of moonlight cast on the wooden crate inside; Skipper sighed as he lowered the door and walked up to the box.

"Hey, Marlene," Skipper said, "care for a little bit of company?"

"Thanks for coming by," Marlene said as she sniffled, evident to Skipper that she had long been crying inside of the crate. "Really and truly, thank you."

Skipper nearly got a tear in his eye himself as he placed a flipper on the side of the box.

"Darn humans came early, huh?" Skipper asked.

"Yeah," Marlene whispered.

"Oh, Marlene, I am so sorry that you're in there," Skipper said as he lightly tapped on the crate. "I tried so hard – we all tried so hard. I only wish that I had done more."

"Skipper, this is not your fault," Marlene stated.

But Skipper's guilt was even more compounded knowing that he had given Rico the order to melt down all of his tools, thus making breaking Marlene out of the crate impossible.

"I failed my mission," Skipper declared. "And I failed you."

"No, you made a worthy and noble effort, and I will never forget you for that," Marlene replied.

Marlene then put a paw on the same spot on the inside of the crate that she had heard Skipper tap on moments before; their appendages would have touched if not for the wooden wall that separated them.

"But, Skipper, since this is the last time we will ever be together, there are a few things I would like to tell you," she then said. "Things from the heart."

Skipper smiled a small smile, then shut his eyes.

"Marlene, as much as I know that whatever you have to say would be truly sweet and touching, I'm not here to say goodbye," he said. "I'm going to be seeing you again very soon."

"How is that possible?" Marlene asked. "This truck is supposed to pull away in just a few hours."

"Because, Marlene, I'm going with you," he said. "I know how important having someone you can always trust is to you; I won't let you be alone."

"What?" Marlene asked as her jaw dropped. "Skipper, what are you talking about?"

"I promised you that I would prevent you from being taken away, and I couldn't deliver," Skipper replied. "So I must now do the next best thing: ensure that you don't have to face some strange new place all alone."

It touched Marlene deeply that Skipper was willing to do this for her, but she couldn't expect him to abandon all he had established just for her.

"No, Skipper, I'm just an otter," Marlene cried. "Don't give everything up just for me."

"I'm not," Skipper replied.

"But–" she began again.

"Marlene, this is important to me because you are," Skipper stated. "Friendship is important, and for some reason you trust me the most of all your friends. And that's why I'm going to come with you: so you know that there's someone in St. Louis who you can always depend upon from day one. This is my duty and my pleasure."

"But what about your team?" Marlene inquired.

"Kowalski is well-qualified to take over when I officially resign," Skipper replied. "He knows how to listen to his gut now; I have complete confidence in that guy."

"But that's your life," Marlene commented. "You were hatched to be a leader."

Skipper smiled.

"Then maybe I can find a way to do it again someday," he responded. "It's not like I'm giving up all hope on the Central Park Zoo – I just need more time. Once we get to St. Louis, I'm going to work hard to try to get you transferred back to New York. Trust me, this is not the last air you'll ever breathe in this city; we'll be back again someday. This is where we both belong."

"But what about now?" Marlene wondered. "Do the penguins in St. Louis even know that you're coming?"

"No," Skipper replied. "My plan to stowaway with you to the Show-Me State is highly classified; you're the only other one to know about it. In fact, I didn't even know about it myself until five minutes ago."

"Then, Skipper, you haven't had enough time to think this all through," Marlene stated. "I mean, where are you even going to live out there if the penguins don't know about you?"

"That's not a concern of mine," Skipper replied. "I'll live in the bushes, under park benches, wherever I need to."

"No, no, Skipper, that won't do," Marlene declared. "If you really won't back down on coming to St. Louis, then the least I can do is let you stay with me wherever it is that I'm placed."

"I can't do that, Marlene," Skipper responded. "I wouldn't want to invade your space."

"You mean like you do every time you burst into my habitat from the sewer?" Marlene quipped.

"Hey," Skipper called back, "I mean well when I do that."

"That I do know," Marlene smiled. "And because you mean well, I have no unsettling thoughts about sharing my new habitat with you. Besides, we should always stick together because I'll be the only one you know there, too."

"All right, Marlene," Skipper agreed. "Just don't snore at night."

"Why you! It's a good thing I'm in this box right now," Marlene joked playfully.

Skipper laughed.

"I'm just glad that I could make you smile," he spoke sincerely.

A lot of thoughts then began to fill Marlene's head about all the things that Skipper had done for her. There were many things that she could have told him next, but she decided to speak from her heart.

"Skipper, just know that if these roles were reversed and it was you in this crate about to be shipped out without a friend, I would be right here with you, too," she said. "You're strong enough to make it on your own, but everybody deserves a friend."

Skipper knew that he and Marlene were different, but he began to realize just how much they had in common. They were both willing to sacrifice their way of life for the sake of each other; Skipper didn't know what to say.

"Such a beautiful sentiment, Marlene," he said. "I have not the words to express my gratitude."

"You will," Marlene reassured. "Someday."

"I copy that, Marlene," Skipper said. "I copy that."

As the next few minutes turned into hours, Skipper and Marlene continued to talk to each other about so many things. They had to now – all they had was each other. But as the time continued to pass, Skipper was suddenly interrupted by an unpleasant need.

It was nature calling him, and he had no other option but to answer. But not wanting to have to do the deed inside of the truck, Skipper thought it best to excuse himself from Marlene and relieve himself outside.

"Hey, Marlene, I think I'm going to go visit the little penguins' room now," he said. "Too many fish coffees earlier, you know."

Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Skipper, you can tell me anything," she said, "but that's just a little too much information."

"Duly noted," Skipper replied as he waddled his way out the door of the trailer.

After doing what he had gone out for, Skipper decided to walk once around the truck to stretch his legs before the long ride to St. Louis. When he got as far as the cab of the truck, he realized that it was one of the most important decisions he had ever made.

"I don't believe it – can this be for real?" Skipper asked out loud as he noticed the keys for the truck dangling from the driver's door lock.

He then jumped up on the step of the cab and grasped the keys in a flipper.

"Poor trucker will probably get fired for this; I almost feel sorry for him," Skipper commented as he smiled widely and pulled the keys out of the lock. "_Almost_."

Skipper then waddled quickly back to the rear of the truck and climbed up into it.

"Marlene, I know your birthday's not until March, but how would you like your first present a little bit early?" Skipper called out as he threw open the trailer door and waddled back in.

"Sure," Marlene replied, a little bit confused. "What is it?"

"Prime New York real estate," Skipper replied as he sat down beside the crate. "It's a waterfront property with its own private pond located in Manhattan's famed Central Park."

"But, Skipper," Marlene began, "that sounds an awful lot like my–"

"It is," Skipper stated joyfully. "And it always will be."

"But, but _how_?" Marlene wondered.

"You can thank the poor fool who left the keys to this truck hanging from the door lock," Skipper replied as he jingled them. "I, for one, certainly thank him."

"So I get to stay here?" Marlene asked excitedly. "With my friends? With you? In New York? With you?"

"You mentioned me twice," Skipper answered with a smile. "But yes, once the trucker realizes that he is without his keys and thus without his vehicle to transport you, there will be no other choice but to have you placed back into your habitat here."

"And that means–" Marlene smiled.

"Yes, Marlene," Skipper said, "the deadline will pass with you still in New York; St. Louis can't have you."

"And you get to stay in charge of your unit after all," Marlene added.

Skipper smiled.

"Well, I guess that's the icing on an already delicious cake," he responded. "But the both of us getting to stay in New York doesn't change anything we've talked about; I'm still glad to know that we have a lot of common ground."

"Me, too," Marlene commented.

Skipper then stood up from leaning his back against the crate and stretched his flippers in the air.

"Well, since I'm confident that you're now safe and secure in this city, there are two missions that I need to go and carry out," he stated. "I'm going to leave now, but we'll catch up later."

"What is it you have to work on?" Marlene inquired.

"The first thing is to wake up Rico and have him eat these keys so they never see the light of day again," Skipper informed her. "The second operation is classified, but it's classified for the right reasons."

"Well, OK," Marlene responded. "See you later."

"Bye, Marlene," Skipper said as he exited the truck. "It won't be long now before you're back in your own habitat."

And Skipper was right. About an hour after he left her, Marlene heard a man she knew must have been the truck driver curse every word in the book upon discovering he had lost his keys. Fifteen minutes later, she heard the trailer door open and a gruff female voice airing her complaints out loud.

"Animals!" Alice uttered as she and the trucker slid the crate with Marlene out of the truck. "It's always something with these animals!"

The crate was soon back on the cart and wheeled over to the otter habitat. Once it was carried inside, Alice opened it and Marlene looked out. It just so happened to be the same exact view that she had first seen when she had come to the Central Park Zoo from her old aquarium in California years before.

Once she emerged from the crate, Marlene jumped into the water and swam a victory lap around her pond before climbing out and walking into her cave. She only made it in a few steps before she was greeted with a pleasant and heartwarming surprise.

"Welcome home, Marlene!" a group of her friends popped out and shouted.

Skipper had arranged it, and everyone was there: the penguins, the lemurs, the chimps, and a few others. Even Roger the alligator came up from the sewer to be a part.

"So, Marlene," Skipper then walked up to her and said, "what do you think of Operation: Home Sweet Home?"

"What do you think?" she replied as she reached out and hugged him.

It was in front of everybody, but Skipper didn't care. All he could do was smile and hug her back.

"Welcome home, Marlene," he said. "Welcome home."


End file.
